Happy New Blog!

A BLISSFULLY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

… and so begins Dave The Happy Singer: The Abominable Showman’s Happy blog!

Dave The Happy Singer at Sydney Harbour for NYE 2008/2009

This is not the world’s first blog, nor is it even my first blog. I dabbled with the idea of online, rolling Happy Singer news long before blogs were called blogs. Of course: I Did It Wrong, as we say on the Internet. In the meantime, the trail has been well and truly blazed, by intellects greater than mine, and I find myself breathlessly chasing the bandwagon, wheezing and stretching… for what, exactly?

This blog is mine. I say that now, because you will probably disagree with me soon. That’s cool. I love disagreements; they make me learn stuff, and that’s hawt. I will shamelessly promote my songs, shows, merchandise, causes and recordings, but only if I sincerely believe it’s worth your time, dear Reader. I will sometimes talk about things that bore or offend you. That’s cool. Free expression is priceless, and the Happy Singer gives a shit about that.

That said, I try to be a nice guy, and if you do disagree or object to anything I say, I invite you to let me know!

Happiness. It’s a big deal. What makes us Happy? Why should we be Happy? Can we spread Happiness? How important is it to be Happy and is it even cooler to make others Happy?

I don’t know the answers, but I am really excited about going on a journey with you to see what we can learn! Philosophy and science have lots to tell us, and I’ve really only scratched the surface. I do know that I love being Happy and making other people Happy. I’ve been trying for nearly ten years. But why? Maybe you’re a philosopher, a psychologist or a neuroscientist: if so, I’d love to hear what you have to share, even a link to something Happiness-related would be cool!

What else can you expect? Well, it’s my blog, so stuff I love I guess! Reason and compassion, probably. Religion and our defence against it will crop up. I’m a geek; there’s no denying it. As I write, Australia’s broadband minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, intends to censor this awesome country’s access to the Internet, a prospect that appalls me. I’m going to rant. The mating rituals of Homo sapiens sapiens are an endless source of laughs, pain and joy for me. Science rocks hard, and describes our universe better than any other method of inquiry, period. Science is inquiry: it’s reason applied to the real world. Woowoo is never as much fun as the real world, real life, or our amazing universe. So woowoo can expect short shrift.

But I want this to be a light-hearted journey… laughter makes me Happy. And even if I can’t make you Happy, if I can make you smile, this will have been worthwhile.

That’s it. My manifesto. Every new blog starts with an awkward introductory post, and this was mine. Greetings to the John Titors among you, cruising back from the future to see where the awesome/infamous/controversial/damning bloggery all started. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

Whatever you think of me or my thoughts, I sincerely wish you peace, reason and Happiness. I hope you’ll join me on this journey by subscribing to the blog. Until then: